The present invention relates to a handy phone or similar terminal unit and more particularly to a character inputting method for a terminal unit using a seesaw key and a device therefor.
It is a common practice for the user of a handy phone to input desired characters on numeral keys arranged on the phone. However, this kind of character inputting scheme will be problematic when the numeral keys are omitted in the future, e.g., when the handy phone is reduced in size to such a degree that it cannot accommodate the numeral keys or when the portion of the phone accommodating the numeral keys is used for another purpose. In light of this, there is an increasing demand for a handy phone with a small size, simple character inputting scheme.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 9-34620, for example, discloses inputting means replacing the conventional numeral keys or similar button type keys so as to reduce the size of a terminal unit. The inputting means includes particular operating portions each being movable back and forth in a particular direction. Inputting means detects the physical directions of movement of the above operating portions. In a character input mode, control means switches, based on the output of the inputting means, characters and symbols to appear on display means or fix an input. However, the problem with this conventional inputting means is that it renders the terminal unit sophisticated in construction and difficult to operate.
Technologies relating to the present invention are also disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 1-211019 and 1-211020.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a handy phone or similar terminal unit which is small size and easy to operate.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a character inputting method for a handy phone or similar terminal unit and a device therefor.
In accordance with the present invention, a character inputting method for a terminal unit includes the steps of providing on the terminal unit a first and a second button capable of being pressed or shifted independently of each other by the user of the terminal unit, causing the user to press at least one of the first and second buttons for scrolling and searching characters appearing on a display in either one of the forward and backward directions, and causing the user to shift at least one of the first and second buttons for selecting a desired character and fixing the desired character.
Also, in accordance with the present invention, a terminal unit includes a display and a store section storing character sequences beforehand. An inputting device includes at least one of a first and a second button capable of being pressed or shifted independently of each other by the user of the terminal unit. A controller controls, when the user presses at least one of the first and second buttons, the scroll of characters appearing on the display in either one of the vertical and horizontal directions and in either one of the forward and backward direction. The controller sequentially scrolls, when the user operates at least one of the first and second buttons, the characters in the forward direction or the backward direction to thereby search the characters, and selects, when the user shifts at least one of the first and second buttons, a desired character and fixes the character to thereby input it. The desired character is written to the first store section.